Dave Soldier & Johannes Kepler: Motet, Harmony of the World скачать в хорошем качестве

Dave Soldier & Johannes Kepler: Motet, Harmony of the World

Motet: Harmony of the World 0:00 Part I 2:50 Part II 6:00 Part III 8:15 Part IV music Johannes Kepler (1619) / Dave Soldier (2022) lyrics from Eis Hēlion “Hymn to the Sun” by Proclus (c. 480 A.D.) translation and language coaching in Greek by Maria Combatti Sung by Ekmeles Mercury: Charlotte Mundy, soprano Venus: Elsa Sutherland, alto Earth: Kate Maroney, alto Mars: Steven Bradshaw, tenor Jupiter: Jeff Gavett, baritone and director Saturn: Steven Hrycelak, bass Poduced, Recorded & Mixed by Dražen Bošnjak, Golden Gun Studio, NYC Mastered by Zlaya Loud This four part motet is composed according to Johannes Kepler’s Harmonies of the World (1619), in which he reports his discovery of the elliptical shape of the planets orbits around the sun and also derives a basis for the polyphonic music of the Renaissance. He demonstrates that if the planets moved in circles around the sun as suggested by Copernicus, the sounds they produce would be dissonant. He felt that the “master artisan” would not design a system in which the planets did not revolve in consonance, and this was the stimulus for his discovery of how the planets genuinely orbit. Kepler realized that the planets move in ellipses and so would change in musical pitch according to their distance from the sun, like a lute’s string dampened at different lengths on the neck. If this occurred, the planets would occasionally be in tune with each other. His calculations of the shapes and speeds of the rotations and the planet’s relative distances from the sun inspired Newton’s efforts to describe force, acceleration and gravity, and so provided the foundation for virtually all contemporary technology and physics, from subatomic forces to the understanding of the entire universe. In Chapter 7 of Book V, Kepler asked that a composer write a motet based on the planetary motions he deduced, with Mercury sung as a soprano, Venus and Earth as altos, Mars as a tenor, and Jupiter and Saturn as basses. “Shall I have committed a crime if I ask the single composers of this generation for some artistic motet instead of this epigraph? The Royal Psalter and the other Holy Books can supply a text suited for this. But alas for you! No more than six are in concord in the heavens. For the moon sings here monody separately, like a dog sitting on the Earth. Compose the melody; I, in order that the book may progress, promise that I will watch carefully over the six parts. To him who more properly expresses the celestial music described in this work, Clio will give a garland, and Urania will betroth Venus his bride.” Kepler writes many pages on what the motet should be, including the harmonies, intonation and allowable intervals and scales. In short, Mercury has the most elliptical orbit and can traverse an octave and a third: Venus has the most circular orbit and can sing only a single note, E, and sometimes stretch to an Eb, Earth can sing only G and Ab, Mars can sing from an F to a C, Jupiter a range of a minor third and Saturn a range of a major third. (For details, download the score from davesoldier.com). Kepler quotes Proclus througoutt the book, and I have chosen his Hymn to the Sun for the lyrics. Part 1 is based on the harmonies of the aphelions (orbit furthest from the sun) and parahelions (closest to the sun). We proudly show how these chords are not at all consonant, but in my opinion, have their own sort of beauty. Kluthi, faous tamia, zōarkeos, ō ana, pēgēs autos echōn klēida kai hulaiois eni kosmois hupsothen harmoniēs ruma plousion exocheteuōn. Part 2 is intended to evoke choral motets by Orlando Lassus, who Kepler mentions in the book to be an exemplary composer of modern music that is rationally derived from the laws of the universe: This part is closest to what Kepler desired. Zōsamenoi de planētes aeithaleas seo pursous aien hup’ allēktoisi kai akamatoisi choreiais zō(i)ogonous pempousin epichthoniois rathamiggas. Part 3 is phrased in hexameter, the meter of the hymn, with a 7 beat cycle. Seirēs d’ humeterēs basileus theopeitheos oimēs exethoren Phoibos; kitharē(i) d’ hupo theskela melpōn eunazei mega kuma barufloisboio genethlēs. Part 4: In Book V, Chapter 6, Kepler’s diagram indicates the musical ranges of the six planets and the Earth’s moon. Kepler does not ask for lyrics except that “the Earth sings mi and fa as on our planet misery and famine obtain”. The planets rotate around the listener using Dražen Bošnjak's technology at speeds related to the log transformation of their orbital periods. Please wear headphones to hear the rotation of the planets in this Part. -Dave Soldier, New York City 2022